Tuesday, July 31, 2007

Wow, right now I'm busier than I've ever been before summer ends. I'm trying to hold down two jobs, summer school (had to take a course our of requirement--not because I failed anything; though with the way things were going in Physics last year--that's surprising), and writing and reading. I think I might just put my "Busy Reading Eclipse" banner up now, even though I've had no luck in finding an early copy (A couple thousand or so got shipped and put in stores early--though they should have considered TEXAS when choosing where to put the early bird books, because no one in my city seems to ever find ARCs....).I know I promised to review Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. So here's my review in seven words:Loved it, though I miss Remus and Tonks.Well, okay that's eight words but whatever.WHY???? Why did my two favorite characters (besides the trio and Ginny) have to die???? WHY?????The world of fiction is an absurd place.I love it, but its crazy (I mean, she could have killed off Draco for all I care....But Remus and Tonks? At least their son hasn't died....YET).Anyway, does anyone have an early-bird copy of Eclipse that they don't want?Because I, for one would LOVE to have it.

Friday, July 27, 2007

I haven't read the books yet, but I did see the movie trailor. It looks very interesting. I was wondering: does anyone think the books are worth reading? Because I've heard some negative reviews of them... And I'm looking for some light reading before Eclipse comes out next week.If not...does anyone have some suggestions? I'm going to the bookstore tonight!I'm SUCH a geek :o)Anyway,have a great weekend everyone!-Sookie

Okay, since I'm a site-a-holic, I thought I'd just take the time to point out the new new ones I've made.NEW!Over My Head on Flickr! : Right now all it has is pictures from the Release party, but I'm planning to take some pics at the Eclipse Prom (when the third book in the Twilight series is going to be released)--where I'll be dressed as the main character--Bella. And I'm dying my hair! This time dark brown--almost black. I'm excited to see what it's going to look like. Also since I'm a senior this year, I'll be the annoying tear-eyed girl with a camera strapped to her hand nearly everyday at school. So expect more pictures soon!

Spooky Sookie at Livejournal : Also called "Spinner's End". (You can see where I'm drawing inspiration here). It's acting as a sort of interum website right now while I learn more HTML/CSS. I'll be putting up an archive of my reviews there also.

The Long Project : I'm working on resurrecting my old first website. But I won't post much until I learn how to make my own template for it.

Well, that's it for now. But don't think I won't be a dunderhead and start anymore new websites. Because it's likely that I will.

Saturday, July 21, 2007

Thursday, July 19, 2007

With an affinity for floating down the river, you see things in blackand white. The world is strange and new to you and the more you learn about it, the lessit makes sense. You probably speak with an accent and others have a hard timeunderstanding you and an even harder time taking you seriously. Nevertheless, youradventurous spirit is admirable. You really like straw hats.

This time I'm running away from my house to go live at Hogwarts, only it's in the Golden Age--the Roaring Twenties. And instead of wizard robes, everyone at Hogwarts is wearing pinstripe suits, top hats, and shiny tap shoes.

So--and this is by far the strangest thing that has ever happened to me in a dream--I'm forced to tap dance with the Slytherins (which include Malfoy, Voldemort, Snape,yes, Snape, Bellatrix Lestrange, her father, Crabbe Goyle, almost everyone who's a Slytherin that's mentioned in the HP books. Because if I don't, I'll be killed.

So there are all these twenties-gangester-type slytherins, all making me tap dance. And who else to come to my rescue but Neville Longbottom? We tap dance our way out of the Slytherin common room, somehow miraculously past all the mean-looking Slytherins, and make our way outside where we have to steal a car and drive way away from Hogwarts.

And this time my dream ends with the rather glorious image of Neville Longbottom in twenties-attire, driving our gettaway car.

Wednesday, July 18, 2007

Okay, so I'm walking down the street and I see my house and it has the Dark Mark over it.And I'm like, "Holy cow! I get to fight Voldemort and the Death Eaters!" (yes, that is exactly what I thought in my dream, I am so not making this up). So I go up to the door and I somehow have a wand in my hand, and I go in, and there's the whole gang of scary looking Death Eaters about to kill me.And suddenly I see Voldemort and before anyone's Avra Kedavra'd, I'm like,"Expelliarmus! Priori Incatatum! Alohomora!" And about fifty million other spells we see in the Harry Potter books.Of course chaos ensues...and the death eaters all turn into pillars of black dust that whirl around like they do in the movie, and somehow I end up stuck in an elevator with Voldemort.Yes, that's right. From my house to an elevator.With Voldemort.Old spidey eyes himself.So were sitting there in the elevator chatting (yes, chatting--what else can you do with a sadistic villain of a book series when you're stuck on an elevator with him?). And he told me his life's story, which of course I knew from the books...but I still listened to it.And finally I said, "Dude, it's still not cool that you kill people. And what's up with the nose, anyway?" (Ralph Fiennes' costume in OOTP includes this really weird looking nose that looks like it's only half finished or something).

And that's when my dream came to an abrupt end: when my alarm clock went off.Does anyone wish to interpret this sucker?Because I still can't.

**edit**

Methinks I am anticipating Harry Potter 7 a little too much.Anyway, I found a good picture of Voldemort's nose.

Tuesday, July 17, 2007

A Countess Below Stairsby Eva IbbotsonRating: PGGenre(s): YA, Historical Fiction, RomanceLots of romance, fun, and Russian to boot. A great read for those who love romance, Historical Fiction, and comedy. In other words: people like me!

Summary:A young Russian countess must flee Russia (because of the Bolshevik Revolution) to live in England with her old governess where she has to take a job as a maid and falls in love with her employer, a young earl.

Summary:taken from Barnes&Noble.comTwelve-year-old Julie has grown up hearing about the dangerous world of fairy tales, “The Wild,” from which her mother, Rapunzel, escaped.Now The Wild wants its characters back. Julie comes home from school to find her mother gone and a deep, dark forest swallowing her hometown. Julie must fight wicked witches, avoid glass slippers and fairy godmothers, fly griffins, and outwit ogres in order to rescue her mom and save her Massachusetts town from becoming a fairy-tale kingdom.

Dramaramaby E. Lockhartrating: Pg-13Genre(s): YA, Drama, ComedyA laugh-out-loud hilarious book about a girl and her adventures at a summer drama camp. Fun, fast, hilarious--and perfect for drama queens!The whole gay-best-friend thing made me a little uncomfortable. And there is some language. But I still recomend it.

Summary:taken from E. Lockhart's BlogTwo theater-mad, self-invented, fabulositon Ohio teenagers. One boy, one girl. One gay, one straight. One black, one white. And SUMMER DRAMA CAMP. It's a season of hormones,gold lame,hissy fits,jazz hands,song and dance,true love,and unitards that will determine their future--and test their friendship.

Fairestby Gail Carson LevineRating: GGenre(s): Chrildren, FantasyYou know, Summer is the season of rereads. And on my second reading of this book, I decided that it was really really good. A delicately woven plot, and a very likable heroine. The romance was still a little dissapointing, but not at all as much as I thought it was before.

Summary:taken from HarperCollinsIn the kingdom of Ayortha, who is the fairest of them all? Certainly not Aza. She is thoroughly convinced that she is ugly. What she may lack in looks, though, she makes up for with a kind heart, and with something no one else has–a magical voice. Her vocal talents captivate all who hear them, and in Ontio Castle they attract the attention of a handsome prince – and a dangerous new queen. In this masterful novel filled with humour, adventure, romance, and song, Newbery Honor author Gail Carson Levine invites you to join Aza as she discovers how exquisite she truly is.

Secret Society GirlbyDiana PeterfreundRating: PG-13Genre(s): adult, mystery, comedyI rarely ever read adult fiction books unless I'm really intruiged or it's a familiar author.In this case, I was intruiged by the title. I love studying about Secret Societies and such. So I thought I'd check it out.Some of the language and such made me uncomfortable, but it was an overall funny read.

Summary:taken from the Secret Soceity Girl website:Elite Eli University junior Amy Haskel never expected to be tapped into Rose & Grave, the country’s most powerful–and notorious–secret society. She isn’t rich, politically connected, or…well, male. So when Amy receives the distinctive black-lined invitation with the Rose & Grave seal, she’s blown away. Could they really mean her?

Saturday, July 14, 2007

Just this morning I woke up early to see the 10:00 showing of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. I'm not sure how exactly I'm going to express how I much I loved this movie. It was wonderful--David Yates did a really great job on keeping the movie cut to the very basic story of the book, while still adding in the fun details from it. Some parts were hilarious--some outrageous, some so sad that I just wanted to cry. I won't give away anything--but I do want to say, if you can see it, please do--because it's easily the best movie of the summer so far!Ooh--and some of my favorite new characters portrayed are:

Dolores Umbrudge

Imelda Staunton played the part perfectly. Being evil, silly, and terribly nasty, but over all a definitely love-to-hate character, I think Professor Umbridge was one of the best new characters played.

Luna (Looney) LovegoodEvanna Lynch is an amazing actress!!!!

I love Luna Lovegood and I was amazed at the movie by how well she was portrayed. Looniness and all.

Argus Filch

Okay, so he's not a new character, but he was hilarious in this movie!

Wednesday, July 11, 2007

EEK!!!!!!!!!! I got my AP English test results in, as well as the ACT results!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I feel a bit like Harry, Ron, and Hermione when they get their OWL scores. (Yes--that's right. My brain is still an abundant snow-globe of Pottermania--I won't be able to get it off my mind until Deathly Hallows comes out, and I've read at least five times).

Anyway, the results are:

AP English: 3

(squee! A 3 means I'm qualified to not have to take English Comp. in college!)

ACT: all high 20's for my reading &

grammar usage, plus a nice high score for my essay (it also came with a note attached that I had taken a decisive point of view and responded well to the prompt--so maybe all those horrid practice essays in English didn't go to waste), a medium score in science, and a pretty low score in math.

But--I'll just have to let that one go.

Anyway: greetings and tidings of joy to those who've taken these tests now or in the past, and good luck for those who will take them next year or the next!

Tuesday, July 10, 2007

Okay, so, just some speculations and thoughts--no actually researched theories or big ideas.

If you watchedThe Hidden Secrets of Harry Potter on A&E last Sunday, then you know that I'm pretty much just echoing what they said.

Anyhow, one of the things that was brought up was how wrong Harry, Ron, and Hermione were about some people throughout the series. For instance-in the first book, the trio think ProfessorSnape is attempting to steal the Sorcerer's Stone and even hexHarry's broom at a Quidditch game. But we all know that it's Quirell who was after the Stone for Voldemort. In the second book we're wrong again about the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher--in fact we find out he is a complete fraud. But that was suspected--really what we were surprised is how nasty he turned out to be--modifying those poor people's memories and then stealing their stories. In The Prisoner of Azkaban we find out the DADA teacher is a werewolf. And that Sirius Black is innocent. In the fourth--Moody, the seeming ally and auror--turns out to besomeone completely else! And we are fooled again by Umbridge in the fifth--at first she seems just somewhat foolish, funny, and boring. But shortly afterwards--we see what she really is. A very, very nasty person and a control freak with no limits. And in the sixth-we arrive at Snape.

Since Harry has been wrong about all past DADA teachers, is it possible that he is wrong about Snape? Is it possible that Snape killed Dumbledore on his own orders? Or made it seem like he waskilled? (Check out more theories athttp://beyondhogwarts.com)We know that the director ofPrisoner of Azkaban had it okayed to put some spoilers for the seventh book in the movie. Could it be that in the scene where Lupin transforms into a werewolf, when Snape comes out of the Womping Willow, and he sees Harry, Ron, Hermione--his instinct is to immediately protect them, it is actually foreshadowing that in #7, Snape will actually work to protect Harry? Even thoughSnape says inThe Half Blood Princeto Bellatrix,"Do you disagree that murdering his favorite student might have turned him against me?"

Well, this is only one theory. And it's the one that puts Snape in the best light. Personally, before really considering it, I was disposed to think that Snape was a definite bad guy. But then I read #6 again--and it made me reconsider. However, we still don't know that much about Snape.

We have no idea right now as to who he's working for--he could be spying on both Death Eaters and the Order for a third party we don't know about! Anyway, this is just an idea.

Guess I'll have to wait ten more days to find out the truth......

ps. Some of my other theories are: Hermione and Ron will get together, Fleur's and Bill's wedding is going to be hilarious, and we haven't seen the last of Dumbledore yet! And well, it's not a theory--but I hope the Weasly twins will find a pair of lovely wizarding ladies who are just as devilish as they are.

Sunday, July 8, 2007

Ever have a strange occurence where you've judged a book by its cover, and it turned out to be a wonderful book?That was whatInto the Wildwas like for me.I love the cover! I love how creative it is--and I especially like the walking cat. You don't see too many walking cats on book covers now, do you?And the book proved to be as interesting and thought provoking as its cover.What would it be like to have Repunzel as a mother? And what would it be like to have to wage war against crazed ferns that spit out invisibility cloaks and three-mile boots? What would it be like to have to repeat your life's story over and over again? If I tripped into the Wild, what fairytale would it try to place me in?

The crazed fern is actually The Wild, the essence of Fairytales and what Repunzel had to sacrifice to get the other fairytale characters out of.Julie is her daughter and now the keeper of the tangle of ferns that is the weakened Wild. Poor Julie, she just wants to be normal--but everything from her mother, to her witch grandmother, to the strange magical jungle under her bed that keeps eating her shoes doesn't permit that.And now it's gotten worse--someone made a wish in the Wishing Well and the Wild has come out from Julie's bed and grown and multiplied so much so that it swallows Julie's hometown in Massachusetts, taking her mother, her grandmother, and their friends with it.Now it's up to Julie to venture into the Wild with only a bike, a backpack, and her adoptive brother, Puss n' Boots to save their loved ones and capture the magical Wild once again. But Julie gets more than she bargained for--and may well have to make deep personal sacrifices to get them out again.-SookieWant Another Point of View?Here are some other reviews ofInto the WildAt The Reading ZoneAt Miss Erin's BlogOther Reviews

About Me

My favorite thing in the world is to read a book. I also enjoy writing, graphic design, and all media and forms of art. I'm also addicted to starbucks coffee (well, who isn't) and have my heart set on traveling the world.